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Put Your Mouth Where Your Money Is: How Political Organizations Profiteer Off the First Amendment and What Congress Should Do About It

Type

Journal

Citation

Thompson, Philip A. "Put Your Mouth Where Your Money Is: How Political Organizations Profiteer Off the First Amendment and What Congress Should Do About It." First Amend. L. Rev. 12 (2014): 725-725.

Abstract

Political organizations, such as political actions committees (PAC), super PACs, and 501(c)s raise and spend money to advocate for or against issues and candidates. These organizations are regulated subject to the First Amendment's speech clause and certain tax laws. Recently, these organizations - especially super PACs and 501(c)s - have become significant outlets for core political speech. For instance, in the 2010 election cycle, "[seventy-nine] groups registered as super PACs spent a total of approximately $ 90.4 million." 1 In the 2012 election cycle, "1,310 groups organized as Super PACs have reported total receipts of $ 828,224,700 and total independent expenditures of $ 609,417,654 ... ." 2
Americans remain divided over how these organizations influence elections. "For those advocating their use, super PACs represent freedom for individuals, corporations, and unions to contribute as much as they wish for independent expenditures that advocate election or defeat of federal candidates." 3 At the same time, a majority of Americans believe the amount of money spent on elections is not money well spent. According to a 2012 Reuters poll, "seventy-five percent of Americans feel there is too much money in politics." 4 Seventy-six percent of Americans think the amount of money in politics gives wealthy people a disproportionate influence. 5 In a 2013 Huffington Post poll, sixty-six percent of those polled believed that the money independent groups, corporations, and unions spent on election advertising causes political corruption. 6